20 October 2016

The Outback Crown Celebrates 6 Years Of American Style Competition Dancing In Oz

Professionals Sharon and
Marko Pekkarinen, organizers of The Outback Crownin Canberra, can hardly
believe the success that has come their way since they introduced this American
Style Dancing competition to Australia in 2011. We asked Sharon
Pekkarinen to explain the difference between International (standard and latin)
and American (smooth and rhythm) style ballroom dancing, and she gave us some
fascinating insights, shared with you below:

“The biggest, most obvious difference everyone can see between International
and American Style ballroom is when partners release hold in the Smooth Dances
– Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot and Viennese Waltz. One of the most important
similarities to remember though, is that the techniques used in the Standard
closed holds are exactly the same in Smooth. The physics of 2 people moving,
elevating, lowering and rotating together don’t change and the 2 styles have a
huge number of the same figures and elements. The character of each dance is
essentially the same, but with the history of music development in the USA and
the ability to break hold, the Smooth Dances incorporate more dance genres and
dance techniques from styles such as broadway, cabaret, theatre arts and
classical ballet which broadens the expression available to portray in each
one. The biggest challenges Smooth dancers face is learning how to move
differently in these other styles, dancing them on their own, and making
‘Smooth Transitions’ between open holds such as Shadow positions and Apart, and
traditional closed holds.
“The US Rhythm Dances – Rumba, Cha Cha, Bolero, Mambo & East Coast
Swing have strong roots in Cuba and have been driven by the evolution of music
over the decades. The biggest difference between Rhythm and Latin is in the
Cuban/Latin Motion. Rhythm uses a ‘Pressed Walk’ most of the time, stepping on
a flexed knee with pressure, and Latin uses a strong walk, where the knee
straightens just before the extent of the stride. However, both styles use both
methods in some situations. The difference was described to me by dual examiner
in International & American Style, Ms Lori Woods-Gay of the USISTD like
this, ‘The International Forward Walk is like walking with the wind pushing you
from behind, and the American Walk is like walking into the wind.’
“In the ‘Rumba’ Genre, the tempo of the music also separates the styles: fast
tempo is American Rumba, medium tempo is International Rumba, slow tempo is
American Bolero. Mambo is the precursor to Salsa and Cha Cha. When it comes to
Swing and Jive, Jive is approximately 10mpm faster in tempo than Swing. So
Swing has a more relaxed, shuffling technique where Jive is driven to be more
lively by the music. Swing also becomes more energetic and compact when the
tempo is faster too.
“An important thing to remember is that neither style has a lesser technique or
ability than the other. I come from the American Style perspective first in my
career, International came later, and I am still studying and gaining
professional qualifications in both, and have heard many descriptions of how
both style dancers ‘see/interpret’ the other style the first time they see it
here in Australia. In the USA they have competitions practically every weekend
which involve both styles. Judges in the USA do not become adjudicators until
they have a professional Licenciate Degree in all 4: Smooth, Standard, Rhythm
& Latin as they will be judging all of them. Australia, in comparison, has
only a few people who understand both, and it will still take a while for the
knowledge and acceptance of both here. But it’s happening and will continue to
happen as all of us dancers want to learn and grow and improve ourselves,
whether we get better at competing or become a better social dancer. The gap
between the styles is not so big, especially when you think about the fact that
we are all ‘dancing’ “.

Sharon Pekkarinen is a fellow of the United States Imperial Society of Teachers
of Dance (USISTD), and co-owner of Danzon Studio with husband Marko
Pekkarinen. Together they organize The Outback Crown in Canberra, the only annual
American Style dance competition in Australia.